Apparatus for operating doors



Sept. 19,. 1939.

S. S. ROBY APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DOORS Filed Dec. 24, 1935 Z] J/ze/aon 67190.6

Sept. 19, 1939. s. s. ROBY APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DOORS Filed Dec. 24, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sheldon J/Pob Sept. 19, 1939. 5 RQBY 2,173,455

' APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DOORS Filed Dec. 24, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sheldon Jfioby Sept. 19, 1939. s. s. ROBY 7 ,455 APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DOORS Filed.Dec. 24, 1935 4 Sheets-$11991 4 awe/Mm Sheldon Jfioby Patented Sept. 19, 1939 APPARATUS FOR OPERATING DOORS Sheldon Roby, Meriden, Comm, assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application December 24, 1935, Serial No. 56,069

Claims.

This invention relates to door closing and opening apparatus of the character which is controlled by the interruption of a beam or beams of light, an apparatus of this type being illustrated in the United States Patent No. 1,978,093 dated October 23, 1934, and wherein myself and Horace H. Raymond are named as joint inventors. The aim of the present invention is to provide, in an apparatus of the character described, an improved 'and simplified arrangement wherein the time interval during which the door remains open is automatically controlled by the person or persons passing through the door thus permitting free and uninterrupted passage through the doorway while, at the same time, preventing injury to persons passing through the doorway by the door closing on them while in the range of movement of the door.

More particularly, an object of the invention is to provide certain improvements in the construction shown in said Roby and Raymond Patent No. 1,978,093 and, more especially, to provide, in combination with the structure shown therein, an additional light sensitive device adapted to be affected by a ray of light passing through the doorway, and switch means associated with the door closing and opening operating mechanism and adapted to render such light sensitive means ineffective after the door has been closed to a predetermined extent.

Other' objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope'of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is illustrated one embodiment which the present invention may take: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a door set in a wall or partition, showing the application to the door of a door operating apparatus constructed according to the idea of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of the mechanism employed for opening and closing the door in response to electrical impulses, this apparatus being shown attached to the frame immediately above the door and connected to the upper portion of the door, a portion of the apparatus being shown in section;

Fig; 3 is a schematic view of the improved door operating apparatus showing the various electric circuits in combination with a schematic representation of the door operating mechanism illustrated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale of a. circuit changing switch illustrated in Fig. 2; r

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is ahorizontal sectional view on an enlarged scale on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

In said drawings, I have disclosed my improvements incorporated in a structure similar to that illustrated in said Roby and Raymond Patent No. 1,978,903. I will first describe that structure and then the improvements forming the subject matter of the present application.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I have illustrated a door A mounted to close a.- doorway B in a partition C. The hinges for the door are designated by the numeral 9. In the construction illustrated, the door swings open to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1. Immediately above the door is a casing, generally indicated at It, enclosing a suitable door operating mechanism illustrated in detail in Figs. 2, 5, and 6, and illustrated schematically in Fig. 3. The casing Ill contains a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder l2 secured at one end to a fixed abutment M which, in turn, is secured to a support 15 which is bolted or otherwise rigidly attached to the partition immediately above the doorway. A piston I1 is mounted for reciprocation in the cylinder I2 and is connected by means of a piston rod I8 with a cross-head 20 which is mounted for reciprocal movement upon the cross-head guides 22. A link 24 is secured at one end to the cross-head 20 by means of a swivel connection or universal joint 25 and is pivotally secured at its other end to an arm 27 which is rigidly secured at one end to the door adjacent to the hinged edge thereof and projects outwardly at right angles to the surface of the door. From this description, it will be seen that reciprocation of the piston I! in the cylinder l2 and the consequent reciprocation of the cross-head 20 will move the link 23 to swing the arm 21 and thus open and close the door. The cylinder I2 is supplied at one end thereof with fluid under pressure, preferably compressed air, through a feed line 30, this feed line being connected through a valve 32 with a supply line 34. This arrangement is such that operation of the valve 32 to connect the feed line 30 with the supply line 34 will cause compressed air to be admitted into the cylinder l2 behind the piston ii to drive the piston to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, this movement of the piston and corresponding movement of the cross-head 20 acting to swing the door A to open position. The door is at all times urged to closed position by one or more tension springs 36 which have their opposite ends secured to the cross-head 20 and to the fixed abutment M by suitable means,

such as the studs 38.

Referring now to Fig. 5, it will be observed open.

that the stem 40 of the valve 32 rests on an adjustable screw 39 carried by a lever 42 one end of which is pivotally connected to the support and the other end of which is pivoted to the armature 43 of an electromagnet 45. With this arrangement, when the eiectromagnet isenergizcd, the armature thereof pulls up on the free end of the lever 42, thereby lifting the valve stem 40 to open the valve and connect the feed line 3|! with the supply line 34; and when the electromagnet is de-energized, the lever will fall and the valve will move to its seat. A latch 41 is pivotally secured to the supporting plate I5 in such a manner that when the lever 42 is raised by the electromagnet, this latch will take under the free end of the lever and maintain the same in raised position to thereby maintain the valve 32 The latch 41 is urged to lever engaging position by means of a coiled compression spring 48 located between the latch and the supporting plate l5. From this construction, it will be observed that energization of the electromagnet 45 will cause the door to open and remain open until the latch 41 is disengaged from its engagement beneath the free end of the lever 42. Such disengagement of the latch 41 is caused by a bar 52 carried by the cross-head 2D and acting through a lever 50, particularly illustrated in Fig. 6. This lever is in the form of a right-angled plate and is pivotally secured to the plate I5. The rear edge of the horizontal web of the lever is in engagement with the forward face of the latch 41. The bar 52 is mounted upon the crosshead 20 by means of suitable brackets and projects forwardly from the cross-head in such a manner that its forward end will strike the vertical web of the lever 50 when the door reaches its fully open position, thus causing the lever to move the latch 41 to release the free end of the lever 42 and permit the valve 32 to close. When the valve 32 has closed, the compressed air will escape from the cylinder l2 through the bleed valve 29, thus permitting the piston to move backwardly in the cylinder under the urge of the tension springs 36, the action of these parts being such that when the door has reached its fully opened position it will immediately start to close under the urge of tlie tension springs, the speed of closing being regulated by the bleed valve 29, as the speed of opening is regulated by the bleed valve 28. In order to prevent injury to the parts, the bar 52 is mounted upon the cross-head in such a manner that it will give after contact thereof with the lever 50. This is preferably accomplished by providing a collar 54 on the bar between the supporting brackets and surrounding the bar between this collar and the rear supporting bracket with a coiled compression spring 55.

In order to provide for the energization of the electromagnet 45 and the consequent opening operation of the door operating mechanism upon the approach of a person to the door, there is provided a light sensitive device 64 adapted to be affected by the interruption of a beam of light 59 directed across the path leading to the doorway. In the present illustrative disclosure, there is a pair of spaced stanchions 51 and 58, each of said stanchions being preferably connected to the adjacent side ofthe doorway by a suitable railing, as indicated at 50. In one of these stanchions, the stanchion 51, as illustrated, is a source of light such as the incandescent bulb 62, and in the opposite stanchion is the light sensitive element; such as the photo-electric cell 64 provided with a suitable shield so that substantially the only light it receives is the light beam 59 emitted from the light source 62. This photo-electric cell is electrically connected with an amplifier D which is, in turn, connected with the coil 61 of a relay switch E, the relay switch being so arranged that whenever the light sensitive cell 64 is energized by light from the source 62, the coil 61 of the relay switch E is energized to lift the armature 68 thereof and maintain the switch open. Whenever the light sensitive cell 64 is darkened by the interception of the light beam 59 passing thereto from the light source 62, the coil 61 is de-energized, allowing the armature 68 to drop and close the switch of the relay E. The switch of the relay E is connected to the electromagnet 45 through a suitable source of power, such as the battery F, so that, whenever the switch of the relay E is closed by the de-energization of the coil 61 upon the darkening of the light sensitive cell 64, the electromagnet .45 is energized by power supplied from the source F and the door is moved to wide open position.

When the door reaches its wide open position, the catch 45 is tripped by the bar 52 so that the valve will close, and thereupon the springs 36 return the door to closed position. With the arrangement so far described, having a single beam in front of the door and across the path leading thereto, the door will completely close after it has been opened (unless another person again intercepts the light beam 59) and the closing movement of the door would be in no way dependent upon the speed with which a person passes through the doorway. With such an ar-' rangement, it would be necessary that the door havea predetermined movement allowing for such a fixed interval as to permit slow persons to pass through the door without inconvenience and possible injury.

In order to place the closing movement of the door under the automatic and unconscious control of the person passing through the doorway, and thus prevent injury to those passing through the doorway, while permitting that the door be closed as soon as practical, there is provided a second light sensitive device associated with the relay switch 61 and adapted to be affected by the interception of a beam of light passing through the doorway when the door is open. In the present illustrative disclosure, this second light sensitive element or photo-electric cell is designated by the numeral 10 and is positioned in a stanchion 12 located on the opposite side of the wall or partition from the stanchions 51 and 58 and diagonally opposite to the stanchion 51. This photo-electric cell 10 is adapted to receive, when the door is open, the beam of light 1| emanating from the light source 62 and directed diagonally through the doorway; The photo-electric cells 64 and 10 are connected by a wire 15, and the respective cells are connected to the amplifier D by wires 16 and 11. With this arrangement, when the door is open, the door opening and closing mechanism is under the control of both of the photo-electric cells. Since the door, when closed to a predetermined extent, intercepts the beam 1|, it is necessary that this interception shall not result in an opening movement of the door and, therefore, to render the photo-electric cell 10 ineffective and to place the door operating mechanism under the exclusive control of the light sensitive device 64 while the beam 1| is intercepted by the door, there is provided a switch S associated with the door opening and closing mechanism. This switch is shown as having two spring contact members I8 and 19 respectively connected to the wires 15 and I1 by the wires 80 and 8| so as to shunt the photo-electric cell I when the switch is closed. The spring fingers l8 and 19 are insulated from one another and may be suitably mounted upon a bracket 82. Carried by the cross-head is a rod 83 adapted to eflect closing movement of the switch. In the present instance, this rod is adapted to slide through an opening 84 in a block 84 carried by the bracket 82, and the lower contact member 19 rests upon a ball 85 which is adapted to project into the opening 84'. When the rod engages the ball, the lower contact is, of course, raised so that the switch is closed.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be observed that, when the door is closed, the photoelectric cell 10 is shunted out by the closed switch S, and the door opening and closing mechanism is then under the sole control of the photo-electric cell 64. When a person intercepts the light beam 59, the cell 64 is de-energized, resulting in deenergization of the relay E and energization of the electromagnet 45 whereupon the valve 32 is opened and the door will then swing to itsfull open position. When the door is swung open to such an extent that the light beam ll can fall on the photo-electric cell ID, the door opening andclosing mechanism is then under the control of both photo-electric cells because the switch S is now open and the two cells are in series with the amplifier D and, at this time, interception of either of the light beams by a person desiringto pass 'through the doorway will result in the door remaining fully open, if it is in that condition at the time of interception, or moving back to full open position if it has already started its closing movement. The door will remain open as long as either light beam is intercepted. After the person passes out of the beam H, the door will close (unless either beam is again interrupted by another person) and when it has closed to such an extent as to intercept the beam H, the switch is closed so that the cell 10 is rendered inelfective. It will be seen that the door will close almost immediately after a person passes through the doorway and out of range of therdoor, regardless of whether the person passes quickly or slowly through the door, but that in the eventa person passes slowly through the door, the door will be maintained open until such a person is entirely clear of. the door, thus providing a feature of safety in the automatic operation of doors, as specifically set forth in the objects of the invention as stated above.

While I have illustrated and described a particular mechanical embodiment of theidea of mechanism for opening and closing the door,

controlling means for said.mechanism including an electrical device, means for directing a beam of light transversely of the path leading to the doorway,- light sensitive means responsive to said beam of light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism operative to open the door, means for providing a second beam of light directed through the doorway, a light sensitive means responsive to said second beam of light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism inoperative to close the door while the second beam is interrupted by a person passing through the doorway, and a switch operated in timed relation to the opening and closing movements of the door for electrically disassociating said second light sensitive means from said device aiter the door is closed a predetermined extent. v

2. A door operating mechanism comprising mechanism for opening and closing the door provided with means for automatically rendering said mechanism operative to close the door after the door has opened a predetermined distance, controlling means for said mechanism including a relay switch, means for directing a beam of light transversely of the path leading to the doorway, light sensitive means responsive to said beam of light and electrically connected to said relay switch for rendering said mechanism operative to open the door and to maintain it open so long as the beam of light is interrupted, means for providing a second beam of light directed through the doorway, a light sensitive means responsive to said second beam of light and electrically connected to said relay switch for rendering said mechanism inoperative to close the door while the second beam of light is interrupted by a personpassing through the doorway, and a switch operated in timed relation to the opening and closing movements of the door and in series .with said second mentioned light sensitive means and arranged to electrically disassociate said second light sensitive means from said relay switch after the door has closed a predetermined extent.

3. A door operating apparatus comprising mechanism for opening and closing the door providedwith means for automatically rendering said mechanism operative to close the door after the door has been opened a predetermined distance, controlling means for said mechanism including an electrical device, means fordirecting a beam of light transversely of the path leading through the doorway, a photo-electric cell responsive to said beam of. light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism operative to-open the door and to maintain it open so long as the beam of light is interrupted, means for providing a second beam of light directed through the doorway, a photo-electric cell responsive to said second beam of light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism operative to hold the door open while the second beam is interrupted by a person passing through the doorway, said photo-electric cells being connected in series with said electric device, and a switch operated in timed relation to the opening and closing movementsof the door for shunting said second mentioned photo-electric cell and thereby electrically disassociating the same from said device after the door has closed a predetermined extent.

4. A door operating apparatus comprising mechanism for opening and closing the door and including a fluid actuated piston, controlling means for said mechanism including an electrical device, means for directinga beam of light transversely of the path leading to the doorway; light sensitive means responsive to said beam of light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism operative to open the door, means for providing a second beam of light directed through the doorway, a light sensitive means responsive to said second beam of light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism inoperative to close the door while the second beam is interrupted by a person passing through the doorway; and a switch operated in timed relation to the opening and closing movements of the door for electrically disassociating said second light sensitive means from said device after the door is closed a predetermined extent; said switch including a pair of contacts and a member movable with said piston and adapted to bridge said contacts.

5. A door operating apparatus comprising mechanism for opening and closing the door provided with means for automatically rendering said mechanism operative to close the door after the door has been opened a predetermined distance, controlling means for said mechanism including an electrical device, means for directing a beam of light transversely of the path leading through the doorway, a photo-electric cell responsive to said beam of light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism operative to open the door and to main tain it open so long as the beam of light is interrupted, means for providing a second beam of light directed throughthe doorway, a photoelectric cell responsive to said second beam of light and electrically connected to said device for rendering said mechanism operative to hold the door open while the second beam is interrupted by a person passingthrough the doorway, said photo-electric cells being connected in series with said electric device, and a switch operated in timed relation to the opening and closing movements of the door for shunting said second mentioned photo-electric cell and thereby electrically dissassociating the same from said device after the door has closed -a predetermined extent, said switch including a pair of spaced contacts with a circuit closing member movable with said mechanism adapted to bridge said contacts when the door has closed to said predetermined extent.

6. A door operating mechanism comprising pneumatic mechanism for opening and closing the door and having a controlling valve, an electromagnet for opening said valve, means for holding said valve open until the door is fully open and adapted to be tripped when the door is fully open to permit said valve to close, a light sensitive device affected by the interception of a light beam at one side of the doorway for rendering said electromagnet efiective to open the valve, light sensitive means affected by the interception of a light beam passing through the doorway when the door is open for rendering said electromagnet effective to open the valve, and a switch operated in timed relation to the opening and closing movements of said door for electrically disassociating said second light sensitive means from said electromagnet after the door is-closed a predetermined extent.

'7. An auxiliary ray photocell control of door operating and like motors comprising a motor, electromagnetic means for placing the motor in operation to open the door, a light-ray controlled photocell, an operating circuit therefor arranged to operate said electromagnetic means for operating the motor to open the door and an auiliary light-ray controlled photocell arranged to be cut into said operating circuit to operate said electromagnetic means upon opening the door and for maintaining continued operation of the motor so as to hold the door open, and means controlled by said motor in its operation for cutting said auxiliary photocell into and out of said ing circuit therefor arranged to operate said electromagnetic means for operating the motor to open the door, means directing a light ray onto said photocell for control of said circuit,

said electromagnetic means being operated and the door opened upon interception of said ray, an auxiliary photocell arranged to be cut into said operating circuit for operating said electromagnetic means only when the door is open, means directing an auxiliary light my onto said auxiliary photocell for control of said operating circuit, said auxiliary ray being at an angle to the first ray and while intercepted adapted to operate such electromagnetic means to maintain continuous operation of the motor, and means controlled by said motor for cutting said auxiliary photocell into said operating circuit upon opening the door and out of said circuit when the door is closed.

9. An auxiliary ray photocell control of door operating and like motors comprising a motor, a door adapted to be operated by said motor, a light ray controlled photocell arranged in an operating circuit for operating said motor to open the door when the light ray is intercepted, an auxiliary photocell arranged to be cut into said operating circuit only when the door is opened and to be operated by the interception of an auxiliary light ray for maintaining operation of the motor to hold the door open so long as said auxiliary ray is intercepted, means for cutting the auxiliary photocell into said operating circuit upon opening of the door and means for rendering said auxiliary photocell inefiective to operate the motor by cutting it out of said operating circuit when the door has closed a predetermined amount.

10. An auxiliary ray photocell control of door operating and like motors comprising a motor, a door operated by said motor, electromagnetic means for operating said motor to open the door, a photocell and an operating circuit therefor. adapted to operate said electromagnetic means, a light ray for controlling operation of said photocell for opening the door, an auxiliary phtocell arranged to control said operating circuit only when the door is open, an auxiliary light ray arranged to project through the open door for operating said auxiliary cell.when intercepted, to thereby operate said electromagnetic means for continued operation of the motor for maintaining the door open and switching means controlled by the motor for rendering said auxiliary photocell operative or inoperative by cutting it into or out of said operating circuit according to the position of the door.

SHELDON S. ROBY. 

